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Monday, June 22, 2015

monday scorecard: spectator woes at the us open

This week's Monday Scorecard is a little late and little different. As you may have guessed from this blog's name, I'm a big golf fan. My parents are big golf fans. Our travels are often centered around golf tournaments, especially during the summer with three majors and the FedEx Cup. If you follow me on Instagram and Snapchat {sheriann_snaps}, then you know that I spent last week in beautiful Washington State watching the US Open at Chambers Bay. My thoughts on the course and the event are... not so positive.

I've been to many different golf courses throughout the US. My parents have been to even more, plus some overseas for the British Open and Ryder Cup. Every course and every tournaments has its pros and cons, but for me, Chambers Bay tops the list for disappointing experiences as a spectator.

At the practice round on Wednesday, my parents and I noticed a few things: Chambers Bay is super hilly, there are some amazing views, and 'No Spectators' was a recurring theme. If you don't want to follow a group, then great! Plop down in a grandstand {18th was the breeziest which was nice on the hotter days} and watch the groups come through - a great scenario. If you're like us and wanted to watch Billy Horschel's entire round, well you were kind of screwed.

The above photo was actually taken on Friday {whoops!} at the 10th tee. But do you see the fairway? Yes, it's really hilly, but you can't actually see what happens when they hit their second shot. At least on this hole you could see them tee off and sort of see them hit their next one. So many others were roped off that your best bet was probably to just watch the coverage on TV {let's not get into that...}

Here's the thing about golf, at a major or any tournament, you, as a fan, want to see the shots - good and bad. You want to clap for and cheer on the golfers playing. You want to follow your favorite one in their group from start to finish. At Chambers Bay, you really couldn't and that's what made it frustrating and disappointing.

Instead, you were left on the outside and it was all just a bit impersonal.

And because I don't want to end on such a sour note, here's a pretty picture from a litter later on on Friday morning when the skies cleared up... Happy Monday!